More than half of the private wells tested in Tiverton contain PFAS — also known as “forever chemicals” — at levels above the state’s drinking water standard, according to the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. PFAS are linked to serious health effects, including reproductive issues and developmental delays in children.
Of the 184 wells with available test results, 101 exceeded the state limit of 20 parts per trillion, according to Evan LaCross, a RIDEM spokesperson. As of Sept. 16, seven homes tested above 1,600 ppt, and one well reached roughly 4,000 ppt — the highest level ever recorded in a private well in Rhode Island and nearly 20,000% the legal limit.
RIDEM wrote in a statement to The Herald that the source of the contamination has not been confirmed.
In 2023, The Herald reported on a draft RIDEM report that listed fire stations and fire training areas among the major sources of PFAS contamination in Rhode Island. David Paull, vice president of the Tiverton Town Council, noted that a fire station sits near the contaminated wells, and that the area includes former farmland and old landfills as well. The town is working to test a 400-foot-deep capped well at the fire station for PFAS.
“We literally do not know what the cause is,” Paull said.
PFAS have been used since the 1940s to make products resistant to water, grease and stains, and some take centuries to break down in the environment, Rhode Island Department of Health spokesperson Joseph Wendelken wrote in an email to The Herald.
“While we are still learning more about how these chemicals impact health, we do know that exposure to PFAS has been linked with a variety of health effects, including higher cholesterol levels, lower infant birth weights, weakened immune response and increased risk of some cancers, including kidney cancer,” Wendelken wrote.
RIDOH is advising people not to drink well water with PFAS levels at 70 ppt or more, he added.
RIDEM is installing filtration systems in homes whose wells test between 20 and 1,600 ppt. So far, ten systems have been installed and ten more have been scheduled. Wells above 1,600 ppt cannot be treated with standard filtration systems, so the town is working to extend a public water line to those homes, according to LaCross.
“Once you hit a certain threshold, you can’t even filter the water,” Paull said.
Paull has been working closely with one resident in the hardest-hit area, who sends neighbors Paull’s way when they need water. Last Friday, Paull met a resident who had just gotten her well test results back and was in tears. He gave her eight cases of water.
Another woman called him to say that she had been bottle-feeding her baby with her well water and had known nothing about the contamination, he said.
Until a permanent solution is in place, the town is providing bottled water to affected residents. According to Paull, Shaw’s supermarkets donated a tractor-trailer with 24 pallets of water, which is now stored at the town’s public works facility. Paull said he often meets residents there or delivers the water to residents himself.
According to Paull, the longer-term solution is a public water line. Last week, the town received $1 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Emergency Community Water Assistance grant to help the North Tiverton Fire District — which provides water service in the area — extend its pipeline down Crandall Road. The line will first reach homes with the most contaminated water and then expand to every residence in the area, Paull said.
The pipeline extension wasn’t expected to happen until next year, but the town now hopes to move much faster. “Our goal is to get water to those most affected residents before the first snowfall,” Paull added. “We’re working at lightning speed.”
Paull said U.S. Department of Agriculture officials told the council that pressure from the offices of U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., and U.S. Rep. Gabe Amo, D-(R.I.-1), helped the grant move so quickly.
“They expedited things at a pace that we probably haven’t seen in government,” he said.
RIDEM began testing wells in the area this year through a targeted, EPA-funded program that samples private wells near potential PFAS sources such as old landfills, gas stations and fire stations.
“We started getting … emails from residents saying, ‘What is going on here? My well just came back contaminated with PFAS,’” Paull said. “We got blindsided. (RI)DEM didn’t even tell our administrator that they were doing this.”
“Due to the sensitive nature of private well testing and trying to balance homeowner privacy and the town’s right to know, initially, (RI)DEM contacted homeowners prior to notifying town administrators,” RIDEM Chief of Public Affairs Kim Keough wrote in a statement to The Herald.
The agency has since changed its approach so that homeowners and the town are notified “simultaneously,” she added.
Paull also said many residents threw away RIDEM’s initial letter because it carried a University of Rhode Island logo and did not appear official.
Keough wrote that the official letter has only the RIDEM logo, but the document came with a PFAS tip sheet that the RIDOH created with URI.
When residents credit him for delivering water late at night or in the pouring rain, Paull said he tells them it has been a team effort. “As a team, we’re getting this done,” he said.
“There's been a lot going on in the background that the public just doesn't see,” Paull said. “There’s really nothing more important than having fresh clean water and having it as soon as possible.”
